Thorston gives Ko Pin Yi a pass

kano

Unbelievable!!!!!
Silver Member
Watching the Guinness World Series of Pool(Jakarta) live here in Korea, 6PM Friday night now. First match on the TV table Thorsten Hohmann vs. Ko Pin Yi. Game is Ten Ball alternate break. Tied at 1-1 Ko at the table shoots a 3-7 combo but didn't call it. Combo on the obvious side. Ko makes the 7 and gets good shape on the 3. Ref calls a foul. Ko sits down, Thorston waves him back, tells the ref it's ok it was an obvious combo. Ko gets back on the table finishes the rack.

My question is how many of you guys would have done the same thing? By the way it's a Race to 6!!!

1st Place is $40,000.

Kano
 
Obviously I'm not playing big tournaments, but in my matches I don't mind if someone doesn't explicitly call obvious shots. I myself do try to call every combo, carom, bank, etc. however obvious it might seem.
 
I would like to say I would do the same thing...but I can not. I probably wouldn't have called foul myself, but if the ref called it most likely I would get up and shoot for a chance at $40,000 in a short race and if I played as well as Toastie. So I guess my price is $40,000...or less :o. Johnnyt
 
link?

thnx

It was during the first live streamed match. We are now on the 2nd match between Souquet and Kawabata. Ralp is traiing 3 to 6 on a short knockout race to 8, alternate breaks format. There will be another tv match after this.
 
In my view, Thorsten did the right thing; the thing an honorable man would do. While pool will definitely never be mistaken for a "gentleman's game" as golf is; it would definitely be more highly regarded by the general public if it was.

Contrast this situation to that televised match where Earl Strickland obviously moved a ball with his arm; ref didn't see it; so Earl kept playing (saying "its not a foul if the ref didn't see it/call it" - I think it was that Grand Central Terminal tourney, I think the opponent was Charlie Williams). I had several family members whose response was, "what a Mickey Mouse sport."

I may be swayed by playing in a 14.1 league where we play all ball fouls and are EXPECTED to call our own (it is NOT the opponents or the ref's responsibility). To not call a foul on yourself is reprehensible. I would never play or gamble with someone who wouldn't.

P.S. - waiting for all of those "teamsport" baseball and football analogies; who will then be contradicted by the "golf analogy" posters.

P.P.S. - I was in a match with Brian from Columbus, Indiana (who gambles HIGH, don't know his last name). While attempting to runout the case game in 8-ball (only 2 balls left and the eight), a guy wearing headphones on the next table backed into my cue as I was addressing the ball, and banged my cue into the cue ball - FOUL. I went to sit down; Brian just waved me back to the table. He is a man (and I felt a bit awkward and embarrassed to go back to the table, tried to insist he keep shooting, but he wouldn't hear of it).
 
Last edited:
That's what champions do. They have integrity no matter how high the stakes are. They'd rather lose than win on a technicality. He's not the only pro that would have done that, David Alcaide called a bad hit on himself Hill-Hill in the Quarter or Semi Finals of the World Cup a year or two ago that no one saw but him! You needed slow mo replay to see that one.

Moral of the story, we should all aspire to this level of integrity.
 
It's more than just a case of being an honest player. Thorsten knows very well that he can win without such presents from the referee.
 
When I see someone abuse the 'rules' regarding fouls, I just shake my head. And never, ever forget that they have no integrity.

In team play, some people pass this off as 'the good of the team', but I think that's BS, too.

-s
 
What does the "a lot of green" (or something) phrase mean?

I am guessing they meant it's quite a far/long distance shot.

Another one they keep saying is unforced errors.
what does unforced errors mean?
 
What does the "a lot of green" (or something) phrase mean?

"A lot of green" refers to a lot of distance between the cue ball and object ball. I assume it comes from golf when talking about long distance putts?
 
I am guessing they meant it's quite a far/long distance shot.

Another one they keep saying is unforced errors.
what does unforced errors mean?

Unforced error is when someone clearly has an open shot/safety and misses it.
 
If I were in Thorston's situation, it wouldn't have occurred to me to tell the ref to disregard the missed call. When there's a ref, the ref makes those decisions. I understand what Thorston was thinking, but I'd feel like I was being presumptuous. After all, it wasn't an incorrect call. If it was incorrect call, I'd certainly challenge it whether it was against me or my opponent.

In my games, I overlook non-called obvious shots all the time. I'd feel like a giant ***hole if I were to ding my opponent like that. Then again, I don't play for money. If $40K were on the line and there were no ref ... hmm. It would be ugly to give my opponent a non-called obvious shot, only to have my opponent later ding me for the same thing because of the money pressure. Most people aren't like Thorston. I'd feel like a fool to give that away when there's a good chance that my opponent wouldn't reciprocate. Of course, this applies to my opponent too, so I'm sure my opponent and I would agree that for this kind of money it's by the book to the fullest extent.
 
Last edited:
What Thorsten did was the honorable thing a champ does.Kudos to him.
On another note.
I don't agree with a foul being called if your shirt sleeve moves a ball a 1/32 inch.The player or ref should just place it back to where it was.To me it does not interfere with the game.
 
That's what champions do. They have integrity no matter how high the stakes are. They'd rather lose than win on a technicality. He's not the only pro that would have done that, David Alcaide called a bad hit on himself Hill-Hill in the Quarter or Semi Finals of the World Cup a year or two ago that no one saw but him! You needed slow mo replay to see that one.

Moral of the story, we should all aspire to this level of integrity.
THIS...great post, Mikey.
 
I'm surprised Thorston was even allowed to give it back. It's cool he was able to though.
 
Back
Top